Judaic Studies Program
AJST/AHIS 250: I he Holocaust in History

ESSAY 2: INSTRUCTIONS
PRIMO LEVIS SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ
Essay topics, you must write about one of the following themes.
1. Primo Levi’s memoir reveals his strong will to survive and the resourceful ways he and others attempted to do so. He also describes some of the difficult dilemmas faced by camp inmates and how they attempted to live and survive. Vladek Spiegelman confronted many of the same challenges and dilemmas during his lime in Auschwitz. Compare and contrast (be sure to do both) the experiences of Primo Levi and Vladek Spiegelman. focusing on their will to survive, their resourcefulness, and how they addressed some of the dilemmas that inmates faced in the camps. Focus on 3-5 issues (such as “hunger” or “lack of sleep”) and explore and comment on them in depth. Use examples from the readings to support the points that you make.
2. In his essay “The Gray Zone.” (in Nicwyk. III. p. 117-18), Levi writes that “privileged prisoners were a minority within the Lager (camp) population; nevertheless they represent a potent majority among survivors” (though only a minority of those w ho had privilege survived, so lethal was the camp). Examine how Levi’s own personal experience in Auschwitz, and those of at least two other prisoners he writes about in chapters 1-16 (“The Last One”), reflects his views on acquiring, maintaining and benefitting from privilege in Auschwitz as elaborated in his Gray Zone essay; or for one of the cases you examine, you can discuss how privilege failed to lead to survival, and why. This essay should involve only the time when the camp was operational; do not discuss anything that happened after the Naz.is evacuated the camp (that is, no mention of any of the people discussed in “The Story of Ten Days”).
Roth prompts require that you think about and comment on the books and the people portrayed in them; they do not ask y ou to retell the content of the stories, or to quote extensively. So use your own thoughts and w ords as much as possible, and if you quote directly from the sources, do so selectively and briefly.
Instructions: Essays are due on Tuesday, November 12.2019. Papers must be submitted in two forms: I > paper copy is to be submitted in class on November 12; and 2) electronically to the assignment in Blackboard, also due by 8:45 AM on the same day.